The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1887-05-07
A Ride on the Finest Mountain
Road in the World.

Ralph Meeker, an Harper's Magazine for May.
Tie highway from Vladi-Kavkas through
the Caucasus was built by the Gar in
1859, and it is said to be the finest noun
tain road in the world 1t is so wide that
two post-wagons, drawn by four horses
abreast, can pass at full speed at any place
by night or day. The macadam road-bed
is graded like railway, and its surface is
as hard as the boulevards Of Paris. TWAS
by this celebrated military thoroughfare
that we entered the Darrell Pass The
horses dashed around bend in the road,
and suddenly stopped before poststation.
These government houses, which are well
constructed of cut stone, with sheet-iron roofs
painted green, have been built from eight
to fifteen miles apart along the entire route
through the Caucasus. Horses, wagons,
and drivers are changed at every station,
unless the traveller is fortunate enough to
own his vehicle; then only change of
horses and driver is necessary. The toll
for transportation is one and half cents
verst--a distance of about two thirds of a
mile. Each passenger is supposed to have
permit, or ay-bill, from the government,
which he must show in addition to his reg
ular passport. This imperial order for
horses is supposed to enable one to travel
with little delay; but the post-masters along
the route always make it point to compel
one to wait as long as possible. and unless
liberal fees are given one may be detained
two or three days at station. We had
travelled but ten miles, yet the character
of the springless vehicle was such that we
felt as if we had been pounded by machin-
cry. An officer of the government who
was travelling with us ordered fresh horses
harnessed at once, and in few moments
their steel shoes were ringing on the road.
The scenery grew rapidly bolder and
mountains that seemed lofty but half an
hour before sank out of sight as we ascend
ed the canon. In places the roadway was
a mere groove cut in the side of appalling
precipices, with the river breaking into
foam thousand feet below As our
horses galloped around one of these but
tresses mighty amphitheatre opened d.
rectly before US, on one side Of which a
little notch was seen midway between the
river and the heavens. 1t was the road.
Looking across the measureless abyss, we
saw caravan of freight wagons toiling up
this channel, chiseled in the side of the
mountain, all the artillery wagons and the
great siege-guns that thundered against
Kars and the heights of Soubatan passed
over this road More than two thousand
vehicles were moving between Vladi-Kav-
kas and Alexandropol. They stopped for
nothing but avalanches and dead horses;
neither darkness nor storm delayed their
progress. Some were loaded with powder
and shells; others carried clothing and med
ical supplies. But none Of these great
wagons nor swiftly running post-horses i'm
peded us. The magnificent toulevard over
which we were travelling was often broad
enough for three teams topass. Sometimes,
however, line of two-wheeled Asiatic
carts drawn by bullocks refused to yield
the customary share of the road, and as the
post-wagons swept by them the Tartar
drivers lashed the Arabs in the face with
their -Cossack whips, and accompanied the
sting with epithets and laughter. A solid
and welI-laid wall of masonry, two or three
feet thick and three feet high, prevents
careless teamsters from tumbling into the
river half-mile below.
As the mountains grew loftier the road
was really more secure, and the artificial
fountains that had been built along the
route were a delightful surprise to the
European traveller When the wind was
low, their feathery spray fell ike dew on
the mountain-sides, where the greenest of
grass softened their wild grandeur. The
gigantic walls increased in height and vast
ness until about noon, when we unexpect-
edly swept into the bed Of new and ter
rible amphitheatre, with mountains rising
from the post-station to an altitude of if-
teen thousand feet, and at least eleven
Thousand feet above the station, in one vast
and perpendicular wall Of rock. The hors-
es crossed the river on splendid iron
bridge, and halted at the station of Kazbek.
Fresh horses were at last obtained, and
once more we resumed our way. The as
cent, though Of an even and consistent
grade, became heavier, and after crossing a